The Priestess From Down the Road
by LunaFaustus
Summary: When a blonde criminal and his cocky silver haired friend arrive injured at her Temple, High Preistess Isidris is compelled to help the two strangers. But she becomes rather attached to the young blonde man and is saddened when he leaves. But what happens when he comes back with an offer she CAN'T refuse? And who is man in the Akatsuki she can't forget? Rating and pairings inside.


Rated M for _possible _later content  
Pairings: DeidaraxOC and Mystery person*xOC  
*Will be revealed at a later date

* * *

It was a stunningly beautiful summer afternoon. Flowers were in full bloom in a spectrum of gorgeous colours drinking up the pure sunlight that struck their fragile petals. Trees threw their expansive shadows across the ground to provide cover from the burning light to the people outside enjoying the sun.

But there were two criminals who were not enjoying the summer sun. Or really, to be precise, they didn't give a damn about the weather. For all they cared, it could have been raining cats and dogs. One was a young blonde man with a long bang covering one of his sky blue eyes on the left of his face, the other was also a young man with slicked back silver hair and striking magenta eyes. He did not wear a top, letting all who lay their eyes on him see him in all his bare chested glory. He wasn't one to care for what others thought of him. These two didn't have much in common, but one thing they did have in common was that they didn't like each other, or their Leader at that present time for it was he who paired them together. Both were fuming over the fact that they were stuck with each other on a mission and it was this very reason that they did not care for the weather.

The blonde criminal glared razor pointed daggers at his temporary partner and spat a word at him in his mind.

_Idiot, un._

The other shot daggers back at the hated blonde and verbally assaulted the feminine blonde in his own twisted mind.

_Fucking asshole freak bitch._

Clenched teeth, white knuckles across fisted hands. Each man really wanted to beat the living crap out of the other but their Leader had forced strict instructions upon each of the men that they had to play nice with each other or they would not get fed for a month. Neither wanted to lose their right to the food they enjoyed so much so they had begrudgingly forged a shaky truce for the length of the mission which was only fated to end in mass destruction.

The silver haired man gave a long, highly over exaggerated sigh.

"How the fuck are we going to get into this fucking temple anyway?" he snapped.

"How should I know?" the blonde retorted back in an equally snappy manner. "Why don't you injure yourself or something? You like pain don't you, un?"

"I heal too fast you fuck wit. The wound wont be there by the time we get to this god-damned temple" He paused in a moment of contemplation. "_However_, you could injury yourself and that would be our way in."

"Wait just a minute, I was seriously just kidding Hi-" the blonde started protesting seconds before a sharp pointed kunai lodged itself in his side.

His blue eyes bored into the other criminals face in shock. The magenta-eyed criminal shrugged.

"Oh look, you seem to have _slipped_ while carrying a kunai and stabbed yourself. I guess we have to go and get yourself fixed up at the nearest temple." He sniggered walking off without a single look back at his handiwork. "You're such a klutz Deidara, you should be more careful with sharp objects."

"You're a fucking bastard Hidan, un." Deidara said limping after the retreating figure of his so called 'team mate'.

xXx

It was a stunningly beautiful summer afternoon. Flowers were in full bloom in a spectrum of gorgeous colours drinking up the pure sunlight that struck their fragile petals. Trees threw their expansive shadows across the ground to provide cover from the burning light to the people outside enjoying the sun.

I, however, was stuck behind my desk inside doing paperwork for the Temple. I sorely wished to trek outside into the wondrous sunlight and bathe myself in the golden rays but my temple work always came before relaxation.

_Paper work. Just one of the perks of being the High Priestess of the Temple._

Not that I was complaining though. Well, not much anyway. I loved my job; it was better being out of the temple as one of those ninja who always turned up on our doorstep seeking medical aid.

But I did want to go outside and stretch my wings a bit.

I eyed my stack of paperwork and wondered about sneaking outside with it and doing it under a tree. It's not like anyone could tell me off for doing what I wanted to do, after all, I _was_ the highest-ranking priestess in the temple.

I stood up, my chair clattering backwards across the floor noisily. My rust coloured fox tail bumped into the chair and it tipped over.

I picked up my pen and stuck it between my teeth. I shuffled my fingers under the paper and hefted it up onto the lower part of my arm. I skirted around my desk and made my way towards the closed door at the other end of the room. The desk suddenly looked very empty without the mass of paper on it.

I reached out for the door handle, the stack of my paper work precariously balanced on one arm when the door swung open towards me with great force, missing my face by mere inches. My carefully balanced paper work flew from my arm, scattering into the air and across the room, falling out of order. I watched it as the paper fell like snow to the floor. I uttered a groan that was full of exasperation of the lost hours I had spent painstakingly ordering and sorting the paper. I turned to the person in the doorway, a small frown creasing my brow. Lingering in the doorway was a small priest, who's name I knew to be Shiloh, panting as if he had run over from the front gate. It was quite a distance from the front gate to where I worked.

"Brother, how can I help you today?" I asked pulling on a friendly smile.

"High Priestess Isidris! Some injured travellers are in need of your medical assistance in the infirmary! They seem quite hurt and one seems to have lost a lot of blood!" he panted tiredly.

"Oh my! I'll head over right away. Do you mind cleaning up these papers for me brother? Just place them on my desk and I'll sort them once I have dealt with the travellers." I said curling my tail up under my robes and putting my headdress on, nestling my fox ears into my soft red hair.

"Ah! Of course High Priestess Isidris!" he said falling to his knees and started picking up the papers.

I smiled. A boy like him would make an excellent High Priest for the Summer Fox Temple.

"Blessings upon you Brother Fox." I said as I stepped around him, my wings disappearing through the slits in the back of my dress.

"Blessings upon you Sister Fox!"

I rushed over to the infirmary as fast as I could. Well, as fast as I could in kitten heels. I liked healing people because it gave me a chance to meet new people and it also presented the opportunity to convert outsiders to the way of the Temple of the Summer Fox.

I'd always belonged to the Temple of The Summer Fox, apparently I was found dumped on the Temple doorstep as a baby and they had raised me as part of the family.

In fact, there was not one temple but four, one for each season. The Summer Fox, The Autumn Wolf, The Winter Bear and The Spring Doe. Each temple had it's own set of doctrines and beliefs that worked in with the other Temple's beliefs. It was a complicated system full of complex ideals but it seemed to work well enough.

After five minutes of running/walking at my fastest pace, I arrived at the infirmary. A shallow layer of sweat slicked my brow. I breezed through the slightly ajar door swiping at my forehead with the back of my hand as I did. An older priestess stuck her head outside a curtained off bed area on the far side of the room and gave a 'oh am I glad to see you' smile and walked over to me as I approached the bed.

"What happened?" I asked straightaway, worry veined through my voice.

"Two travellers have been injured on the road, both have lost a lot of blood. One was stabbed by a kunai but we've managed to remove the kunai but it is bleeding a lot and the other has multiple lacerations varying in depth. Please tend to them immediately High Priestess Isidris." She said warily.

I whipped my heavy High Priestess robe off baring my short-sleeved priestess dress. For the most part it was a deep blue but the bust and collar was white. It was tight around the torso and flared from the hips. The skirt half of the dress was modelled on a Chinese dress with the strip of material at the back being wider than the strip at the front. Down both of the strips were long white crosses. The symbol for our Temple was emblazoned across the bust in a red burst of colour. Lace top tights adorned my legs and black kitten heels on my feet finished off the outfit. It was probably unnecessary for my to take off my High Priestess robe but it was very hot and I took the opportunity to cool myself down.

"I will. You may take your leave my Sister. Thank you for your hard work." I said hanging my robe up.

The Priestess left the room, shutting the door behind her, trapping in all the hot air in the stuffy room. I headed for the windows and strew them open, cool air sweeping into the room in a pleasant gust that ruffled my soft red curls. I seized the curtain and hauled it back, getting my first glimpse of the travellers. The travellers, who were both men, were looking at me with similar dumbstruck expressions. My hands went to my head to confirm that I still had my headdress on, which I did. I looked behind me and saw that both my wings and tail were hidden from view. I looked back at the men who were still wearing the same expression, slightly confused at what they were staring at. I pushed my confusion to the back of my mind, there were more important things to do than be confused.

When I _actually_ looked at the young men I realised that they were both highly attractive.

The one in the bed on the left had long blonde hair that fell loosely over his shoulders and onto his chest. A single blonde bang cover up the right side of his face sheltering one of his mesmerising blue eyes. His shirt was soaked through with blood and looked like he was in immense pain.

The traveller in the bed on the right was a cocky looking silver haired man of similar age as the blonde. He had the most intriguing eye colour I had ever seen. He was reclining quite happily in his bed, hands tucked behind his head whilst being completely topless. His upper body was littered with multiple wounds but he didn't seem particularly fussed about it.

I quickly decided that the blonde was in need of my immediate attention rather the other man who seemed to be enjoying having wounds.

"Blessings upon you men. My name is High Priestess Isidris, but seeing as you are just guests, you can just call me Isidris." I flicked a stray curl of red hair over my shoulder with a bright smile. "You are lucky you came to this Temple, I'm the best healer in the region. Is it alright for me to touch your injury, Mister?"

"Yeah, nah that's cool." The cocky looking man called at me. "Ignore me, good thing I fucking heal quicker than most."

I smiled at him before turning to the blonde again.

"Uhh, yes. Sure. Please go ahead." He said as I knelt next to the bed. "Oh, um, my name is Deidara, un."

I rolled the bottom of his bloodstained top up and gave a short gasp. The wound was a deep and very serious. I looked to at him.

"The wound is very bad. Would you be able to, um, remove your top for me?" I asked, unable to stop the pink tinge that seized my cheeks.

He reached down to grab the hem of the top and our fingers brushed against each other for a split second. He gave a sheepish smile and I quickly averted my eyes. He gave a short grunt of pain and released the hem of his top.

"Sorry, it seems I can't move very well at the moment. I can't get my top off, un."

A dribble of blood leaked over the edge of the wound and ran down towards the hem of his pants. I stood up.

"Please try not to move then Deidara, not until I've healed you." I said, my back to him as I reached for a utensil on the bench opposite the beds. "I sincerely hope you don't favour that top too much though."

"Why's that, un?"

I turned back to him, a pair of scissors in my hand.

"Because I'm going to have to cut your top off so that I can heal you properly." I said leaning over him, scissors at the base of his top. " I apologise in advance if you like this top."

"No, it's ok, un…" he said as the blades slid through the material with ease, brushing against his sun kissed skin.

I cut through the fabric slowly, careful not to put the blade through his skin. He didn't make my job easy either, squirming as the cool lower blade glided over his heated skin. I finally reached the top of his shirt and helped him peel the shirt from his skin. I reached up and brushed his golden locks from the front of his softly sculpted chest. I dropped the ruined top and the scissors onto the floor.

"Okay, are you alright to lie down for me? Then I can start healing you."

He nodded and very slowly lay flat on his back, issuing a few lesser grunts of pain as he did. His chest heaved and jerked as breathed painfully. I felt sorry for the young man, but I did not feel sorry for him for long. He would be all healed in a matter of mere minutes. I murmured a short prayer to Summer Fox, a habit I had gotten into before healing someone.

I gently placed the tip of my left index finger roughly one centimetre below his wound and skimmed my fingertip in a circle encompassing the wound.

"This may itch a tiny bit so please try not to itch it okay?" I said drawing my left finger away from the warm flesh.

I braced my right index finger in the air above his wound and started tracing symbols unfamiliar to anyone but me. The fingertip left a trail of soft blue light that mapped out the complex symbols I drew. Upon finishing the healing script the strange symbols flashed bright blue and the wound began to heal at an accelerated speed that could not be achieved by anyone but myself. I watched in satisfaction as the severed flesh melded back together swiftly. In less than a single minute there was no sign that Deidara had ever been wounded. He sat up and looked at the fading symbols. He poked where the wound had been.

"What the?! It's gone! It's as if I had never had an injury! There's not even a scar!" he turned to his companion. "Look Hidan! Not even a single trace of a scar, un!"

"What sort of fucking magic is that?!" the man Deidara called Hidan cried looking at me.

I opened my arms in a humble gesture.

"There is no magic here. What you have witnessed is the power of the blessing that our lady bestowed upon me when she chose me to take up the role of High Priestess in her Temple." I said with a smile.

Deidara moved to scratch the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"I guess I owe you a thanks for healing me, un."

As his hand moved towards the back of his head, I noticed something strange about his hand. I grabbed his wrist and examined the palm of his hand. In the centre of his palm was a perfectly formed mouth. The mouth opened and a pink tongue slipped out, motioning towards my wrist, as if trying to lick it. A row of white teeth were visible in the dark cavern.

"You probably think that it's pretty gross right, un?"

I studied the hand mouth intensely.

"No, actually I find this fascinating. Is there one on your other hand too?" I asked not bothering to mask my excitement. "Did you receive a blessing from a Divine to get these?"

"Nah, I was born with these." He said presenting me with his other hand, which also wielded a perfectly formed mouth. "What's a Divine, un?"

"Oh. A Divine is like a goddess or a god but very different from them at the same time. The four Temples we have here each have a Divine they worship instead of a god. I received my gifts from my Divine, the Summer Fox."

"What gifts did you receive from this 'Divine', un?"

"Well, obviously my amazing healing ability and these…" I said removing my headdress.

My rust red fox ears, which had been previously nestled in my thick hair, popped up. My full sized fox tail unfurled and slid through a slit in the back of my dress just below my tailbone, the white tip peeking over my left shoulder. My little white wings popped through the holes in the back of my dress and nestled into my back comfortably.

I got the same dumbstruck look from both men.

"Is that fucking real?!" the man named Hidan shouted.

"Of course it is. Summer Fox identifies her High Priestess or Priest by giving them her prized appearance. I can also take the form of a fox myself." I said throwing my headdress over to the table next to where my robe hung.

"So you're kind of like a jinchuriki, un?"

I turned to the blonde and uttered a laugh.

"No, not quite, the power I am granted through the blessing is on level with a jinchuriki though. I don't use it often, I'm not a very violent person."

The two men exchanged a sly glance between them that I didn't pay attention to.

The door rattled noisily as it opened and the older priestess from before popped her head in.

"High Priestess Isidris, it is time for you to eat. Please come immediately." She said looking at the blonde and his missing wound.

I gave a sigh and nodded once.

"Alright, I'm coming. These two will be fine now. They can get back onto the road early tomorrow morning."

"Actually, we would like to get away right after eating. We have an urgent mission to complete as soon as possible. Thanks for healing me though, un."

I smiled fondly at the man.

"You're welcome, though it is a shame that you may not stay longer. Maybe you can return later to hear more about the Temple?"

"Trying to convert us huh, un?" he said with a short laugh.

"There is always room for you men here. I would gladly welcome you into the Temple if you wish."

The older Priestess nudged me.

"High Priestess Isidris, your dinner will be getting cold." She urged handing me my things.

"Alright, I'm going." I said to her before turning to the men again wagging my tail at them. "Safe travels brothers and maybe we will see each other at a later date when you join the Temple?"

I didn't get to hear either of their replies as the aging priestess rudely pushed me from the room.

"Food. Now High Priestess Isidris." She commanded.

I broke away from her, cradling my robe and headdress in my arms.

"I'm going okay?" I said in a disgruntled manner, heading towards the dining hall. "I just wanted to make sure our guests knew that they were always welcome to convert to our Temple."

"That may be so, but you need to eat." She said halting her walk.

"I know, I know. Anyway, if anyone wants to know where I'll be after dinner, I'll be in my office doing my paperwork." I said picking up my pace, feeling rather hungry all of a sudden.

The priestess watched my walk off and elicited a sigh.

"These young High Priestesses will be the death of me," she muttered resignedly walking in the other direction.

* * *

**Hi Readers!  
Thank you very much for reading this long chapter :)  
(Hope it was not too boring lol)  
Just as an aside, this _may_ possibly replace my other story 'Akatsuki Team Bonding.'  
Please review and favourite, I would love to hear your opinions on it :)  
Once again, thank you for reading!  
Love LunaFaustus  
xXx**


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